


Wish That You Were Here

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Feral Behavior, Feral Derek, Feral Derek Hale, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Sterek Bingo 2017, Stiles Stilinski Takes Care Of Derek Hale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-03 22:21:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10976523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: At his new house, Stiles meets a wolfWell, a werewolf, atleast





	Wish That You Were Here

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to do so much more for the "Feral" theme but I just didn't have the time to expand this any more than it already is *Sobs* _I will do a proper feral fic someday_
> 
> Title and lyrics from "Wish That You Were Here" by Florence + The Machine

_But even closer to you, you seem so very far..._

 

Stiles hated new places

He couldn't stand them

He had always hated change of all sorts, always been someone who was most comfortable when everything stayed the same, who loved the idea of adventure but preferred to live in monotony

He hated new places.... so why had he volunteered to move out when his roommate and best freind said he was going to move in with his fiance'?

Why the hell hadn't Stiles just stayed and let Scott be the one to move instead?

He didn't know, it was an impulse decision really, trying to be a good freind, and look at where it got him now...

So here he stood, the backyard of his new home, frustrated and listless, just .... staring at it all

He probably would've done better to get another apartment but this house... it had been calling to him, and he had been saving up to get a house at some point anyway, that plus a little (or alot) from his unused college fund...

It had seemed like a good choice at the time, but now he was standing here wondering if he hadn't just made the worst decision of his life

As he was thinking about it, mulling it over in his head and chewing on the inside of his lip, he noticed something starting to move around in the woods in front of him

The house was sitting on a hill with a big yard in the back that lead directly into a massive wooded area, Stiles knew when he bought the place that he would have alot of woodland neighbors, and he was curious to see who his first visitor would be

However, before any kind of creature could even hope to emerge, Stiles was jarred out of his thoughts and forced back into reality

"Dude! What are you doing out here?"

He blinked, swallowing and turning to stare at his ex-roommate, a little... at a loss for what to say if he was being honest

"Um... nothing,"

Great job there Stiles

Scott gave him a slightly concerned look before nudging him forward, silently insisting on his return to the house to finish unpacking

Stiles gave one last longing look over his shoulder at the woods, but they were still

Almost eerily so

 

~+~

 

From that moment on Stiles found himself in his yard almost every day

Whenever he stepped out for anything he always found himself drawn to the yard, drawn to staring at the woods, waiting for something that was probably never going to happen

He didn't know why, but he always followed that draw, and he stayed for a wile, anywhere from a few minutes to almost an hour (and he suffered the bug bites to prove it)

Eventually he got tired of pretending that he could go outside without it happening and decided to start having picnics out there to settle his urges without wasting his time

If his father could see him now- actually getting fresh air like a real live person instead of staying cooped up in the house all the time

On top of eating outside, Stiles was even starting to consider testing out some nature magic

He had never toyed with it much in the past simply because he had never liked being outside all that much, it was blistering hot in California at nearly all times, he was always too distracted to actually concentrate on any given task before him, and the bugs....

His mother used to say he must have very sweet tasting blood due to the way bugs practically swarmed him everytime he stepped out of the house....

But satisfying his curiosity was suddenly worth all of that in ways that it wasn't before and that alone should probably concern him alot more than it actually did

It was a Tuesday afternoon, about three weeks after he moved in, and he was eating pizza and catching up on Case Closed

Average afternoon

...

And then the bushes rustled

Stiles slowly put his book down, eyes wide and curious as the rustling continued

.... And continued.....

And then, he saw a paw

And then a leg

And finally, from the woods, emerged an enormous black wolf- and quite a sickly looking one at that

Even from this distance Stiles could see that the wolf had missed several meals, the poor thing's eyes were watery and he was shakey on his own legs

The fur was matted and it looked like just standing upright was a challenge

Stiles' heart shattered in his chest and he swallowed tightly, putting his pizza down on the plate and reaching out to gently place it as far away from him as he could

And yes, he knew about feeding wild animals ok?

But the thing was.... Stiles was pretty sure this wasn't a wild animal

He had always been good at reading energy and this wolf wasn't just a wolf at all

He was a _werewolf_

A starving, feral, werewolf....

Stiles was freinds with alot of werewolves ok? He took this personally

(Not that he _wouldn't_ have given up the pizza if the wolf had just been a plain old wolf but that's another set of issues to deal with on another day)

He watched, transfixed, as the wolf tip-toed closer and gingerly took the half-eaten slice of pizza in his mouth, staring at Stiles as if he was expecting an attack- and he probably was- before gobbling down the pizza viciously

Stiles wasted no time in hurrying inside and bringing out whatever leftovers he had in the fridge

 

~+~

 

So Stiles had a new wolf freind

He spent about two weeks feeding the wolf, having caught him the first two times as a fluke before he eventually installed a camera to catch when the wolf was around so he could take food out to him

He went out twice a day with cooked hamburger patties and chicken breasts and even some bacon as a treat the last couple of times

The wolf was starting to trust him, shockingly enough

That is... if you can call hanging around in the yard for a few minutes after eating as "trust"....

Finally, by the time he started nearing the three week mark, the wolf was coming close enough to eat right in front of Stiles

He was a _polite_ wolf too

He never growled at Stiles or made any move of aggression towards him, he never took food out of Stiles' hand or off of his plate- always waited on Stiles to offer it to him

And he never got anxious about food either, he just sat patiently and waited like a well-trained dog

Hell Stiles had seen well-trained dogs more vicious than this guy

So, eventually, once Stiles was sure he wasn't going to have his hand bitten off, he decided to put a tracking spell on a tiny, clip-on bracelet, deciding against a collar for now as he knew that many werewolves had bad experiences with them

And on the exact third Tuesday of their little ritual, he moved out with one hand to feed the wolf and used the other to snap the bracelet around his ankle

The wolf jumped, staring at Stiles as if he had just been slapped in the face, and for a minute Stiles thought he had just made a horrible, horrible mistake

But....

Then he went back to eating the hamburger on his plate as if nothing had happened and Stiles considered it a win

 

~+~

 

He waited two days after snapping the bracelet on the wolf to actually track him down, not wanting him to feel stalked or anything

So, one morning, long before their usual meet time, Stiles put on his best hiking clothes and left to follow the tracker

He ended up walking through the woods for an alarmingly short amount of time, only about fifteen minutes as a matter of fact, before finding himself in the preserve....

Right in front of the old burnt-out house that sat in the middle of it

Stiles didn't need his tracker anymore, he had a pretty good idea of where the wolf was

Swallowing tightly, he took a deep breath and pushed himself to keep walking forward, hands curled into tight, balled fists as he headed towards the house, hesitating for only a moment before pushing the door open and stepping inside

The wolf, who apparently had been sleeping in what used to be the living room, bolted up suddenly, barreling around the corner and growling at Stiles

"Woah woah! Chill out buddy, I'm your freind, remember?"

The wolf didn't seem too sure of that at first, but when Stiles took a few peices of chicken out of his backpack and tossed them towards the wolf, he seemed to change his mind

"So this is where you live huh?" Stiles asked rhetorically, looking around the house and feeling his heart sink with anguish

Even his dull witchy nose could pick up the almost overwelming smells of smoke and burnt wood, he couldn't imagine the assault it was on the wolf's finely tuned senses

"I am.... so, so sorry," he breathed, eyes flicking down towards his new freind as said new freind started licking the floor for any possible remnants of chicken

Seeing him like this, knowing that this is what that poor creature lived through...

God no wonder he was feral....

"Hey... buddy?" Stiles called out quietly

The wolf looked up, staring at him curiously

"I'm gonna go for now ok? But I'll be back here tommorrow, I promise,"

 

~+~

 

When Stiles came back the next day, he found the wolf laying in front of the door, as if he had been waiting on him

 

~+~

 

Stiles knew that the wolf wasn't a dog, ok?

But he still needed basic amenities like, you know, _food and water_ , and Stiles didn't know where he was getting either of those things right now except out of his pocket but he wanted to make sure that the wolf wasn't putting himself in any more danger than he had to

So Stiles bought food and water bowls and put them in what used to be the living room, kept them both full as much as he possibly could

The water he brought was fresh from Stiles' water bottle every day and the food bowl had goldfish in it- because goldfish were delicious and Stiles couldn't exactly use dog food

The wolf guzzled down the entire bowl of water the first time Stiles put it out and ate about half of the goldfish before flopping down and, for the first time in their relationship, falling asleep in front of Stiles

He had never looked more content

 

~+~

 

Technically, Stiles could force the werewolf to shift back into a human form, but that would be incredibly painfull and definitely traumatic

For a werewolf to go feral, it meant that he had already suffered plenty of trauma- as if the burnt out shell of a home he lived in wasn't proof of that enough as it was-, and the last thing Stiles wanted to do was cause more pain and suffering...

So, instead of taking the cruel way out of this, he decided to take the illegal way out

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the wolf probably belonged to the Hale family- the family who used to own the burned out house in the preserve

If he didn't, his reluctance to leave that house would just be weird

So Stiles dropped by the police station one afternoon, just after the four week mark of having a relationship with the wolf, and snuck the files on the Hale family fire that took place several years ago

(He also stopped by the local Good Will and got a couch because he was getting seriously tired of sitting on the ashy, creaking floor all the time, and the wolf needed a place to sleep that wasn't the aforementioned floor)

He brought the couch in that afternoon along with the file and set himself up a few feet away from the bowls, laying back comfortably on the couch and starting to flip through the file

It was actually pretty easy to determine who the wolf potentially was, given that there were only two survivors and one was female

(The wolf was _definitely_ male)

He looked down at the wolf as he crunched on a couple of goldfish and decided to try testing out the name another day, this one was too peacefull for any unwarranted experiments

 

~+~

 

A few days later, Stiles decided to try the name

The wolf had jumped onto the couch with him and curled up on top of Stiles and it suddenly reoccurred to Stiles just how utterly filthy the poor guy was

He needed a bath- _desperately_

But Stiles couldn't exactly drag him to a bath tub in wolf form without having his hand bitten off, and even if he could, the most likely result would be that the wolf would have to be practically shaven to get all of the matted fur off of him and that.... just wasn't really an option....

So, perhaps against some of his better judgement, he decided to try it out and see what would happen

"Derek?"

The wolf's head shot up, a panicked look on his face and a low wimper echoing out of his throat

Stiles swallowed past the twist of guilt in his chest and sat up a little bit

"Your name is Derek Hale ... isn't it?"

The wimpering grew louder and more desperate, the wolf tumbling off of the couch and letting out a pained squeal as he writhed on the ground, the familiar white glow of transformation encompassing his body as Stiles slipped off of the couch and stepped forward

When the glow faded, what was left was a man

Pale and exhausted and still too thin, staring up at Stiles as if he had just been stabbed in the back

"Hey.... hey, you're alright, it's just me, see? It's your buddy Stiles, everything is ok," he promised quietly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a little pouch of bacon that he had started bringing with him, pulling out a peice and offering it out gently to the werewolf

Derek stared at him for a long moment before slowly bending his head forward and licking the peice out of Stiles' hand

"That's it," Stiles said with a soft, quiet sigh

"That's a good start,"

 

~+~

 

Getting Derek into a bath probably would have been easier when he was a wolf, in hindsight

Because yes Stiles probably would have lost a limb but he doubted he would have come quite so close to being kicked in the balls as he did this time

Incidentally, because the house had no running water or, you know, bathtub (obviously) Stiles had to take Derek back up to his house

And because Stiles couldn't very well carry a full-grown, squirming wolfman all the way through the woods and up the hill, he had decided to bring his jeep with him this time, driving the long way around to the preserve and forcing Derek into the backseat

He understood why being in a rolling hunk of metal all of a sudden was probably pretty terrifying to the werewolf, but he still wished that Derek would stop crying- wimpering and wining in the back of his throat like a puppy

It was driving him freaking CRAZY because he just wanted to give into whatever Derek wanted to keep him from making that terrible sound again

But alas, Stiles had to hold up atleast a little bit, keep atleast a few mangled shreds of his dignity about him somehow...

Getting Derek into the house had been a chore and a half, but atleast it wasn't too difficult to get him to stay in the bath tub wile Stiles washed him up

He apparently liked the warm water enough to not mind the soap and shampoo too much- wich was a pleasant surprise for them both, no doubt

It took most of Stiles' day, actually

From the time it took to weasel Derek into the car to the time it took to clean him up and get him out of the bath

Stiles was just glad that he had a natural curiosity about everything, enough to keep him entertained without it being a complete and total disaster

Getting him washed up wasn't too difficult- especially not in comparison to actually getting him in here

Clothes....

Clothes were a difficult thought

On the one hand he definitely wanted Derek to have clothes on, but on the other it wasn't very practical, in fact it would be kind of hard for him to go running around the woods when he was wearing clothes....

Ultimately he decided to put Derek in one of the long t-shirts that he had gotten for free at a festival a few years ago

It would provide some covering- and dignity- without getting in his way (hopefully)

There was just one thing that Stiles hadn't counted on during all of this: That Derek wouldn't want to leave

He hadn't exactly made a move to take Derek back to the burnt out house in the preserve, but then neither had Derek

In fact, Derek seemed pretty content to stay wherever Stiles was

If Stiles went downstairs, Derek followed

If he went to the kitchen, Derek followed

If he went back upstairs to the bedroom, Derek followed

Stiles didn't know _why_ he did this, but he certainly wasn't going to try to stop him

 

~+~

 

So Stiles had a new roommate

Six weeks after all of this began, Stiles had resigned himself to that fact

He had also resigned himself to the fact that he was more or less teaching a grown man the basics of How To Human

For Derek's credit, he was actually picking things up pretty quickly

In fact, Stiles was able to determine that in just a short few days he was ready for pants

But it was still something of a weird feeling, trying to teach Derek how to use a spoon and not putting too much concious thought into the fact that Derek slept with him every night (because THAT was a thing that was happening now too)

All of it was weird

As he started approaching week seven, it continued to be weird but...

But also, somehow, some kind of normal

Stiles was a witch who sold potions and spells for a living and there wasn't alot about him or his life that WASN'T weird

So he shouldn't really be nearly as freaked out about this as he was, when he thought about it

Derek was learning, and that was the good thing

And then one morning, completely out of the blue, it all came to an end

~+~

Stiles stretched, yawning quietly as he reluctantly sat up in bed, groaning and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes

He had slept well but he was just up far too early....

"Good morning,"

"Morning," Stiles yawned back, freezing suddenly and wipping around when he caught sight of Derek- who seemed far more alert than he ever had thus far- staring straight at him

Oh crap....

"Umm...."

"Thank you, for everything you've done.... I... I really owe you,"

"No no you don't you just.... you don't owe me anything, but ... an explanation would be kinda nice? How are you in your right mind again all of a sudden?"

"It's just been.... progressing," he said slowly, looking down at his hands and pursing his lips

"The more you helped me, the more you taught me- reminded me- and... the more I came to trust you.... the more the feral mindset became unnecessary and started to wear off.... it's like... peeling the skin off of an apple, you finally peeled the last strip,"

That made sense, at the very least

"Well um.... good, that... that's good, I'm happy to hear that,"

"Why did you do it? Why did you... spend these last couple of months helping me when there was nothing in it for you?"

Stiles licked his lips, hanging his head and trying to think of something atleast similar to a good answer

"Because.... you needed me to," he replied, almost too simply

"I was a stranger, you didn't need to do that,"

"Yeah, well, I wanted to, you weren't in good shape Derek, I ... I didn't want to see you go through that ok? I didn't want to just sit back and watch you suffer ... I wanted to do something, I wanted to help,"

"You helped, trust me.... you helped,"

And then things went quiet for a moment before Stiles finally gained the courage to ask what he had wanted to ask all of this time...

"What ... happened? To make you go feral? I mean, it wasn't the fire was it? That was like.... seven or eight years ago..."

Derek winced, looking horribly uncomfortable- uncomfortable enough that Stiles almost retracted the question, but Derek answered before he could

"My. ... sister was murdered, by the same hunter who burned the rest of my family... when I found Laura's body it was mutilated, I guess I just couldn't process it ... so I ran,"

"How long were you like that?"

"Before you found me? Three or four months,"

Stiles cursed under his breath, shaking his head and staring down at his legs

"I'm so sorry-"

"Don't, you have... NOTHING to apologize for, seriously, I'M sorry that I intruded on your life-"

"Don't, you don't have anything to apologize for either, I didn't do anything that I didn't WANT to do, ok?"

Derek was quiet for a moment, but nodded slowly, ultimately giving up it seemed

Stiles cleared his throat, giving a small smile to the werewolf and reaching out to very gently rest his hand on the other's back

"So, you want some pancakes before we get started?"

"Started on what?" Derek asked in confusion

"We're going to find the person who did all of this... and I'm going to make them pay,"

"You won't have to look far," Derek warned quietly

"Even better, so.... want some pancakes first?"

Derek was quiet for a moment before ultimately allowing his lips to tug up into a smile, nodding slowly at the question

"Yeah.... thank you," he said quietly

"Ofcourse," Stiles replied, yawning and rolling a little bit closer

"Oh by the way... you don't have anywhere to stay do you?"

"The preserve-"

"Isn't livable, next,"

Derek hung his head, giving it a slight shake

"Then I guess you aren't leaving,"

The werewolf jerked his head up, shock written all over his face

"But... I can't-"

"You can, you will, and you'll shut up about it,"

"You're doing too much for me..."

"I'm doing how much I want to do and that's ALL I'm doing, besides I was thinking about getting another roommate anyway,"

Derek was quiet for a few moments before letting go of a slight, tiny smile

"I'll make this up to you,"

"I don't need you to,"

"I know but... I want to," he reasoned, leaning closer and hesitating for a few moments before giving Stiles a soft, chaste kiss on the lips

"I'm not going to do anything that I don't want to do," he explained quietly

Stiles blinked, a slightly pink tint to his face as he cleared his throat and nodded

"I um... good, that's good, I get that,"

"And I'll start by making the pancakes," he offered

Stiles grinned slightly, eyes sparkling as he finally rolled out of bed

"Now THAT I can agree to,"

 

~+~

 

So, at around the seven week mark, Stiles had a boyfreind


End file.
